ANAHEIM – Indications are the Ducks will have John Gibson available for their game against the Edmonton Oilers at Honda Center on Friday night.

Tradition often has a team’s starting goalie leave the ice first after its morning skate and Gibson (18-14-5, 2.63 GAA, .922 SV%) did so Friday after showing no issues when facing shots from his teammates.

A lower-body injury that forced him out of their Jan. 30 game in Boston kept Gibson out of uniform the last four games, but he’s taken part in on-ice workouts all week. It is the first injury that has sidelined him for any notable length of time this season.

If Gibson is indeed activated, Nic Kerdiles will likely head back to San Diego (AHL). Kerdiles was called up on Monday but did not play in Buffalo and isn’t expected to draw in against Edmonton. The Ducks (26-19-10) can also return Berra to the Gulls without having to send him through waivers.

This is the second of four meetings with the Oilers this season. Edmonton took a 2-1 shootout victory on Jan. 4 at Rogers Place, with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins getting the decisive score. Gibson was strong on that night until the shootout as he stopped 33 of 34 shots in overtime and regulation.

Leading scorer Rickard Rakell is on a tear with points in five straight games. His hot stretch extends back to scoring against Pittsburgh on Jan. 17 as he has seven goals and six assists over 10 contests. The winger paces the Ducks with 22 goals and 45 points.

On the other side of the ledger is Nick Ritchie, who has one goal in 29 games. Ritchie has only four this season after getting 14 a year ago.

Antoine Vermette will be back in the lineup after missing his first game this season. Vermette was a healthy scratch Monday in Buffalo as Ducks coach Randy Carlyle gave little-used Derek Grant a game against his former team.

“Coaches make decisions based upon how they feel,” Carlyle said. “It was a back-to-back. We felt that Grant had been out of our lineup and we wanted to see what [he] had to bring.

“Vermie, we love him for his faceoff prowess and what not. But the pace of the game and that, all those things are things that go into consideration. And we made the decision.”

Here is the projected lineup for the Ducks:

Rickard Rakell-Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry

Andrew Cogliano-Ryan Kesler-Jakob Silfverberg

Nick Ritchie-Adam Henrique-Ondrej Kase

Chris Wagner-Antoine Vermette-J.T. Brown

Hampus Lindholm-Josh Manson

Cam Fowler-Kevin Bieksa

Francois Beauchemin-Brandon Montour

On their second leg of a critical three-game California trip, the Oilers (23-25-4) appear to be at their final stand in terms of joining the Western Conference playoff race.

A 5-2 loss to the Kings on Wednesday leaves them 14 points back and an inability to gain any points in Anaheim or San Jose on Saturday will be the death knell for a group that’s taken a large step back from reaching Game 7 of the second round against the Ducks last spring.

Carlyle said there is much to be concerned about the Oilers as he felt the score against the Kings wasn’t indicative of how they played throughout the game.

“It was a 2-2 hockey game until L.A. scores the power-play goal late in the third period and they scored two empty-net goals,” Carlyle said. “Edmonton had all kinds of opportunities to take the lead in that hockey game.

“There was three posts (struck) that I vividly remember. … So they had their chances to win that hockey game. They’re going to come in here feeling pretty good about themselves because they didn’t play poorly.

“The score didn’t indicate that they got the job done and that’s true but they had their chances inside of that.”

In nine regular-season games against the Ducks, Edmonton’s Connor McDavid has two goals and seven assists. McDavid, the reigning NHL most valuable player with 63 points this season, had six points (three goals) in seven games against them during their playoff series.

Leon Draisaitl has terrorized the Ducks in the past. The fourth-year German-born center has eight goals and five assists in 13 games against Anaheim. He had 13 points last spring, five of them coming in a 7-1 Game 6 rout where he had his first playoff hat trick.

The Oilers’ special teams have been part of their undoing this season. Their power play ranks 30th out of 31 teams, being equally mediocre at home and on the road. The penalty kill is dead last, although it is miles better on the road (85.9 percent) than at home (56.3 percent).

Center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (16 goals, 15 assists) is on injured reserve and will miss his seventh straight game due to an upper-body injury. Defenseman Adam Larsson won’t play for a fifth straight contest as he deals with family matters. His father, Robert, suddenly died while on a visit to Edmonton. Larsson, who played for 10 seasons in Sweden’s top pro league, was to spend the All-Star break with his son.

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